


Mezzo Forte

by notjustalittlegirl



Category: The Books of Bayern Series - Shannon Hale
Genre: Cheating, Comfort Sex, Guilt, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Non-Explicit Sex, Set during River Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-21
Updated: 2017-08-21
Packaged: 2018-12-18 10:33:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11872509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notjustalittlegirl/pseuds/notjustalittlegirl
Summary: Finn and Razo are both upset over the girls that they love. A bad day for both leads to them comforting each other in a different way than usual.





	Mezzo Forte

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own The Books of Bayern, all rights go to Shannon Hale. I am making no money off of this, and it is purely for entertainment purposes. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Razo collapsed bonelessly on the bottom half of the bunk bed he shared with Finn, letting his head smack against the thin pillow. Technically, the bottom bunk was Finn’s, but Razo had no deep desire to climb the short ladder to his bed. Besides, Finn wasn’t here yet.

“Razo, what are you doing in my bed?”

Never mind.

Finn plopped down, his added weight on the bed bouncing Razo’s head off the pillow and causing it to smack against solid wood. He growled and rubbed the lump, pulling himself up reluctantly to sit next to his friend. It wasn’t planned, but both boys let out long, heavy sighs at the exact same time.

“What’s wrong with you, Razo?”

Razo wondered for a moment how his friend knew that something was wrong. Then he remembered that, even while tired, he would normally be talking a mile a minute and blathering about every miniscule thing  
that had happened during the day. The fact that he wasn’t was bound to alert someone who had known him as long as Finn had to his less-than-perfect mood. Silence was more telling than noise when it came to Razo.

“Dasha.”

He was hoping Finn, like Isi would have if she were here and not back in Bayern, would understand with just that one word, but Finn was not Isi, nor was he up to date on all the latest Tiran political developments. Of course there would be a follow-up question.

“What about Dasha? I mean, I know you’re in love with her, but what happened? Did she decide a Bayern soldier wasn’t good enough for her or something? Because, if she said anything like that, I can certainly set  
her straight, ambassador’s daughter or not.”

Razo cracked a brief smile. Finn was always so defensive of his friends, even to the point of causing potential diplomatic incidents, and it was one of Razo’s favorite things about the other boy. But, today, it was  
unnecessary.

“No, that’s not it. Just… The Tiran prince… He means to marry her.”

Saying it aloud made it more real somehow, and Razo wanted to bury his head back in the pillow and not come out until Dasha was nothing but a memory.

“Oh.”

Always a man of few words, that Finn.

“What about you?”

“What _about_ me?”

“Well, you sighed too! What’s the problem, Enna-girl still won’t marry you?”

He had hit the nail on the head. He knew it by the way Finn’s shoulders slumped and he looked as if he’d like to take the pillow from Razo and bury _his_ head for a few hundred years.

“No,” he said, and his voice shook. Razo hadn’t thought it was possible for a voice to tremble so much while saying one short word, but here was Finn as proof to the contrary. Finn, whose eyes held the beginning  
glitter of tears.

Enna loved Finn, that much was obvious to anyone who saw the couple together. It was even more obvious to Razo that Finn loved Enna more than the world. He knew there was a reason that Enna kept saying no, it  
was just that neither he nor Finn really knew what it was.

“I’m sorry.”

There was nothing else really to say, other than the reassurances that he had spouted every time he had found Finn upset over another failed proposal. There was nothing he could say to make Finn feel better that  
he hadn’t said time and time already.

“So am I.”

Razo moved closer to Finn, placing his hand on the other boy’s arm. Finn accepted the comfort, knowing or perhaps simply guessing that it was just as much for Razo’s sake as for his own. Finn wasn’t one for physical comfort, or physical touch in general unless it came from Enna, but Razo was one of the few people he would make exceptions for.

They simply sat together for a few moments, not looking at each other, Razo’s hand holding Finn’s arm. Finn didn’t make a conscious decision to wrap his arm around Razo’s shoulders and pull his friend closer, but he did it anyway.

Razo’s head rose up, eyes locking on Finn’s forehead until the bigger boy picked his up as well and met his friend’s eyes.

Razo wasn’t sure who moved forward first, maybe they both had the exact same idea at the exact same time, but they crashed their lips together in a messy clash of lips and tongues.

It only took a moment before they  
each became accustomed, more or less, to the way the other moved and managed to change the dissonance into a harmonious symphony of kisses.

Finn, being the bigger and stronger of the two, pulled Razo into his lap and tangled his hands in the other’s short hair. Razo gasped into Finn’s mouth, and wrapped his legs around his waist. They continued to kiss  
each other, gasping and moaning softly into each others’ mouths.

Razo’s closed eyes slipped open when Finn pulled his lips away from his. He caught the shocked expression on the other’s face, and realized that Finn couldn’t believe what had happened any more than he himself  
could.

He and Finn had kissed. He had kissed Finn, when Finn was in love with the girl who was almost a second sister to Razo and Razo himself was in love with a fire-haired Tiran girl who made his heart melt whenever  
she smiled.

“Oh, my God.”

Finn’s voice trembled harder than it had when he told Razo that Enna still hadn’t agreed to marry him. Razo felt a twinge of guilt that grew even stronger when Finn, Razo’s legs still wrapped around him, reached for  
the pillow to bury his face in.

Razo beat him to it, and threw it off the bed and out of Finn’s reach. He wasn’t going to let his friend hide from this if he couldn’t too.

Finn’s face crumbled, and he pulled Razo against his chest. The smaller boy could  
feel tears dripping into his hair.

“I’m sorry, Finn.” Razo whispered against Finn’s chest as the bigger boy cried, finally letting loose the tears that had been lingering in his eyes since he first sat down on the bed.

“No,” said Finn, sniffling. “It’s okay, Razo. It’s my fault too.”

The two of them sat together like that for a minute before Razo raised his head up off of Finn’s chest and met his eyes again.

“Look at us, Finn. Crying together over girls. What’s happened to us?”

Finn laughed without humor, and then Razo leaned forward and planted his lips against Finn’s again, deliberately this time. Finn didn’t try to resist, simply kissed back. This kiss was gentler than the last, a _decrescendo_  from the _forte_ of Finn and Razo’s first kiss. Razo took control of it, guiding Finn’s lips against his. There were no teeth involved this time, simply the press of lips against lips.

Finn pulled away, and met Razo’s eyes again. There was still guilt there, but also a soft desire that Razo had the power to fan into a flame. It was as if Finn knew that he would regret this later, but couldn’t bring  
himself to stop.

“Do you want to keep going, Finn?”

Finn nodded quickly, and then his lips were back on Razo’s. Hands tore at clothes, and when Razo and Finn had each managed to strip the other naked, throwing their uniforms carelessly to the floor in a way that  
would surely upset Talone, they kept going.

The two boys rubbed against each other, each holding the other close as if they were the only thing anchoring the other to the world. Razo, being so much smaller than Finn, almost felt as if he were being  
crushed beneath the other boy’s weight. It was a good feeling, especially when Finn brushed up against him and caused him to moan against his chest.

When they had finished, collapsed against each other, breathing heavily as they came down from the intoxicating high, red hair and a nose-wrinkling smile flashed behind Razo’s lids. He knew that, behind Finn’s, there was an image of a fierce black haired girl who wouldn’t marry him.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed. If you stumbled upon this by accident, go read The Books of Bayern! I have a blog devoted to this series over on Tumblr: firespeakersandforestborn. It doesn't have that much stuff on it right now, but hey.


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